Brock Leaves
by Ashdawnheartofwinter
Summary: Pearlshipping fluff story: Brock goes back to Pewter City and Ash and Dawn are left alone for a short time.  CONTAINS AN OC  I originally didn't want to post this on here but it ties in sort of to another fic I'll post later.
1. Chapter 1

"Well guys, I guess this is it."

Brock stood at a fork in the road carrying all his belongings on his back, on the other side of the fork Ash with Pikachu perched on his left shoulder, and Dawn stood exchanging a final conversation on a brisk fall morning.

"Thanks for all you did for us Brock." Both Ash and Dawn said in unison.

Brock just grinned, "I really would love to stay and hang but Pewter City gym is calling and I can't be two places at once."

"Yeah Brock thanks again," Ash said, "You made the best stews!"

"That's probably why he's your friend." Dawn chimed in jokingly which resulted in a friendly chuckle between Brock and Dawn.

"Ha-ha very funny," Ash grumbled, "that's not the only reason."

"Come on Ash it was just a little joke." Brock said.

Ash understood and smiled once again. "Good luck back at the gym."

"And good luck to you too on your future adventures," Brock continued, "And if you need to ask me something important just call me up."

The two nodded in agreement.

"Well, I'll see you two." Brock said, starting down the trail on the left.

"Goodbye Brock!" Ash called out.

"Pika Pika!" The yellow mouse like Pok mon chimed.

The two continued to wave and shout goodbye to their friend until they could no longer see him, then walked down the other trail.

"I'm sure gonna miss that persistent guy." Dawn remarked,

"I know," Ash agreed, "we'd been traveling together almost since the very start of my journey."

Dawn could only smile, "I'm sure you two will cross paths again soon."

"We always do." Ash smiled back, Pikachu chimed in happily, "but that brings up a problem."

Dawn's smile became a worried frown, "That being?"

"How are we gonna feed ourselves?"

Dawn rolled her eyes as she perked up a smile again, "That's my job I guess, no need to worry, I got it."

"Problem solved I guess." Ash said,

Dawn giggled softly while they continue to walk along the trail on the way to who knows where.

"Oh Ash," Dawn thought, "he's so damn cute!"

It was now the afternoon and the duo had set up their tent and had begun to unpack their belongings. Ash, not having much to unpack sat in a shady spot under a tree listening to all the chirping and sounds of nature around him, despite having been around it for many years the world never ceased to amaze him at how peaceful it is in the stark contrast to the dangers and problems he and his friends faced near every day.  
Dawn saw Ash sitting under the tree with his hat tucked over his face, thinking that he was asleep; she silently made her way over and sat right beside him.

"Thanks for the help !" She said semi-seriously.

Ash, who was very much awake, tilted his head in her direction. "You probably wouldn't want me touching the stuff in your bag, why ask for my help?"

"Not all of it's my unmentionables!" Dawn stated, nudging Ash's shoulder.

"Really?"

Dawn opened her mouth to say something but stalled when she thought back and remembered that most of her stuff was composed of her clothing, contest dresses, sleepwear, and casual wear, not counting undergarments. "You're actually right there." She said.

"See?" Ash yawned.

Dawn sighed, and sat back against the tree looking towards the sky and the clouds that filled the blue empty void with shape. She looked over at Ash who was actually trying to nap this time.

"I don't think I've gotten this close to him in a while, well just the two of us." She thought, and she tried to bring up a fresh conversation.

"So Ash," She started, "what are you gonna do after all this travelling?"

Ash looked over at her, "I never thought about that, it's never been a thought in my mind."

"Oh you'll probably stop and settle down somewhere with a certain someone."

"A certain someone?" Ash asked, puzzled.

Dawn giggled and rolled over, cuddling up against Ash's right side. "You know, someone you like?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're so dense Ash," Dawn cooed, cuddling up more against Ash's chest.

Ash stayed silent, but found the feeling of Dawn huddling with him a very nice feeling, his cheeks turned a faint shade of red.

Dawn lifted up her head and looked into his eyes. "You know we've never spent time together like this before."

"Uhhh no we haven't." Ash stammered, unsure of what to say.

Dawn just giggled again and rolled on top of him. Ash's blush became more noticeable and looking at his face made Dawn's cheeks turn red too. "He's just so cute," she thought, "and he's mine." Dawn leaned in to kiss him but just before their lips touched, the silence was broken by the sound of a loud screeching sound followed by a cacophony of musical notes being played at a very fast tempo.  
Both Dawn and Ash broke out of their little moment and looked as Pidgys scatted from the trees to get away from the noise.

"Of all the times ugh!" Dawn groaned angrily, pulling Ash to his feet and dragging him into the forests looking for the source of all this noise pollution.

As they walked through the trees the noise began to sound more clear and audible but still very very loud and a few yards away was another open field and upon a tree stump sat a man playing a guitar.

The man had long brown hair that went a little more than halfway down his back, had a small goatee developing on his chin, and was wearing black t shirt reading Megadeth under a worn out kutte denim vest adorned with an assortment of patches from various bands, and some worn out Jeans. The guitar was odd in its color palette. Most of the guitar was all black but the pickups were a bright green, the pick guard had a bright green stripe on it, position inlays on the neck were green, and the logo saying Ibanez was also green, beside the fact that it had 7 strings rather than the more common 6.

Right next to the man was a beat up half stack amplifier, the stack was black with white trim and the head and cabinet were labeled in a fancy looking font saying Marshall that appeared to be hooked up to a collection of car batteries.

The man didn't see Ash or Dawn as his face was partly shrouded by his curtain of hair and the fact that his eyes were closed.  
Ash plugged his ears and tried to yell to the man over the sound of the guitar however his efforts were futile as the loud volume easily drowned out his shouts.

Dawn had had enough and walked forward and turned off the head powering the cabinet and the noise stopped. The man also stopped when his signal suddenly cut out. Confused he looked up and saw Dawn, whose finger was still on the on/off switch. The man also became visibly annoyed; he stood up and put his guitar down.

"NEVER do that to a musician, EVER!" The man shouted finger pointed.

"I didn't appreciate all that noise you were making." Dawn retorted.

"Well I'm sorry I have to turn this damn thing up to 11 so it doesn't sound like shit."

Both Ash and Dawn didn't seem to appreciate the man's attitude, let alone his language.

The man then shook his head, "Let me apologize for my anger, I'm not really in a good mood, I'm not a very bad person really but that's just fucking rude to do to a musician."

"Its fine," Dawn sighed, "do you want it back on now?"

"Nah," The man replied, "I think I'm just about good with that for now, what did I do to make you walk up and turn my amp off? I'm just curious."

Dawn's cheeks reddened again. "Well you kinda ruined a moment with me and this guy." She said, motioning towards Ash.

"Oh-hoho I gave you the ol' cock block eh?" The man grinned, looking at Ash "Heheheh ah sorry about that."

Ash obviously had no idea what the man was talking about so he just nodded and listened on.

"Why are you out here in the open anyway?" Ash decided to ask.

"I could ask the same question honestly," The man replied, "but really I'm just a nomad; just wandering around and playing music and stuff, not necessarily a busker if that's what you're thinking of."

"Okay then " Ash carried on, "do you travel alone or something."

"Other then the one pokemon I have on hand, yes." The man stood up and expanded a single pokeball

"Hey Machop," He shouted tossing the ball, "wake up!"

And in the bright flash of light, a Machop appears, Dawn got out her Pokedex.

"Machop, the superpower Pokemon, it has special muscles that never tire or strain no matter how long it trains and excercises."

"That's your only Pokemon?" Ash asked.

"It's not my only Pokemon," The man said, "I always have Machop with me, I have at least 7 others in reserve, I don't really do battles or contests or all that jive. He really just helps me with my traveling carrying my cab while I carry the head and my guitars and stuff and also moves obstacles out of our way."

"That seems kinda boring to me." Ash said.

"Well that's just you," The man went on, "I mean I do love Pokemon but music is my passion."

Then the man thought of something. "Say, where are you kids going?" He asked.

"We're on our way back to my home in Twinleaf town," Dawn said, "why?"

"Okay, can I tag along with you?" The man asked again, "Cause I'm looking to sell this stack cause it's a real bitch to carry around and how I'm powering this thing is so damn inefficient and I'm running out of money. If a Plusle and Minun appears outta nowhere so I can somehow recharge batteries I'd be good but that ain't happening."

"Yeah my friend would be glad that didn't happen," Ash pointed out.

"It's not that bad anymore Ash," Dawn growled, "they still freak me out though."

"Uh-huh interesting," The man sighed, "but you didn't answer my question, can I travel with you or not?"

"I don't see why not." Ash said.

"Cool," The man grinned, "you can call me Jeremy from now on."

"Nice to meet ya," Ash smiled, "I'm Ash."

"And my name's Dawn!" Dawn chimed in.

"You seem like a cool bunch of kids," Jeremy remarked, "your Girlfriend's pretty cute Ash, you lucky motherfucker."

Ash and Dawns faces reddened immediately after he called Dawn Ash's girlfriend. They silently turned to look at one another,  
Dawn smiled sheepishly at Ash and jumped into his arms.

Jeremy smiled too watching the two have their moment seriously resisting the urge to shout "D'awwwwwww!" loudly and ruin their moment.

Their embrace lasted for about a minute or two before they let go of eachother.

"You know what Dawn?" Ash said, "I've been feeling the same way about you. I didn't really think it was anything until this point."

Dawn smiled brighter then before and hugged him yet again. She then opened her left eye and say Jeremy sitting in front of them, staring at them.

Dawn, who had completely forgotten that Jeremy was even there gasped and jumped back when she saw him.

"When did you get here?" She blurted out.

"I've been here this entire time." Jeremy answered, confused.

"Oh, right..."

"Alright kids," Jeremy said standing up, "I let you have your little moment now where's your little camp out if anywhere?"

"Uh, just on the other side of those trees." Ash answered, pointing to the wall of trees behind him.

"Cool," Jeremy said, starting to pack up his stuff, "let's move my shit over there and stuff so we can go places."

Jeremy disconnected the amp head and cabinet from his little car battery jig and then disconnected the head from the cabinet.  
Machop instictively picked up the cabinet effortlessly and followed them over to their campsite. 


	2. Chapter 2

As Jeremy began to put his things in place, his new found friend began to ask him curious questions.

"Okay Mister Music Man," Dawn started, "what kinda business are you in?"

"If you're asking what genres I play," Jeremy answered, putting the amp head into a hardshell case, "it would be heavy metal, folk, classical, and some jazz but mostly metal."

"Well it wasn't exactly what I was asking but that'll do" Dawn said, "I knew you were into metal from the start, that's pretty awesome stuff."

Jeremy's jaw dropped. "You listen to metal?"

"Yep," Dawn said, "it isn't all I listen to. I listen to allot of things, metal happens to be one of them."

"Hmmm..." Jeremy was still alittle apprehensive, "name one metal band you like."

"Gorgoroth."

"Dawn," Jeremy sighed, "if you weren't taken and in my age group I would have pounced right on you."

An unfeasibly large sweat drop appeared on Dawn's head and laughed nervously "Eheh... okay then..."

Jeremy laughed too. "I would though... nah I wouldn't. Okay seriously what did you mean to ask me?"

"Okay then," Dawn said, "I meant to ask like what groups or bands have you been in if any?"

"Ummm... so far the only thing close to a band in my eyes was a Pantera tribute group that I was a member of for about a year.  
Yeah people kept calling me a maniac cause I went absolutely insane on stage but I started drinking too much and those guys didn't like that so I got fired and I didn't feel like looking for anyone else so here I am."

"Wow," Ash cut in, "you've sure been around then haven't you?"

"Definitely." Jeremy said.

"Not to say that me and Dawn haven't been around the block before." Ash added in.

Hearing this Jeremy suddenly burst into laughter after interpreting Ash's statement in the wrong way.

"What's so funny?" Ash asked, annoyed, he looked back at Dawn who had also thought the same thing was very red in the face.

"I'm sorry I found that hilarious coming from a... kid your age, but I digress, I don't just play guitar I play bass, and the octave mandolin for whatever reason."

"Interesting..." Ash said, clearly bored with Jeremy's rambling.

"Don't worry Jer," Dawn reassured, "Ash is a Pokemon 24/7 kinda person everything else bores him. Oh and do you mind being called Jer?"

"Not at all," Jeremy said, "I've been called that so many times it's pretty much my name."

"Oh good," Dawn smiled

The group continued to chat about various subject for hours until a familiar growl came from Ash's abdomen.

"Uhh..." Ash's hands covered up his stomach.

"I guess it's time to start making supper?" Dawn assumed.

"Yeah, those growls aren't gonna stop any time soon." Ash said.

Dawn looked around in her bag and around the area worriedly, what was she gonna make since she assumed Brock's role as chef.  
As she looked through her bag, she found a bag of vegetables with a piece of paper attached to it, it was from Brock as if he knew that she would take his role gave her his stew recipe and the ingredients needed.

"Wow, it's like he knew I was gonna do this." She thought.

She looked around seeing that he also left the cast iron pot with them too, so she just shrugged and started cooking and once an hour or two passed the stew was ready.

Dawn took the wooden spoon out of the pot and tasted the stew. "I think it's ready." She announced.

Ash who was slouched down on the ground, perked up suddenly and charged over to Dawn, Jeremy who was tuning his acoustic guitar followed in a more civilized manner.

Dawn handed them both bowls of stew and spoons then got herself a bowl and sat with the boys in a circle.

As expected, Ash was the first one to dig in. "Wow Dawn this is just like Brock's cooking!" He remarked.

"Well it sorta is," Dawn admitted scratching the back of her head, "cause it's his recipe."

"I see," Ash said.

It was only a matter of time until Jeremy asked "Who's this Brock character?"

"Brock is a friend of ours who cooked, and took care of us basically," Ash told him, "he actually left to go home this morning."

"I see," Jeremy said, "is he a pretty cool guy."

"Yeah," Dawn added in, "he also has a tendency to fall in love with every cute girl he meets before getting Poison jabbed by his Crogunk."

Jeremy chuckled, "I bet he hates that thing so much after all those."

"Nah he doesn't actually," Ash corrected, "he loves all his Pokemon, it's helped him control himself to a degree though."

"Yeah he sounds like a pretty cool guy, I'd hang with him." Jeremy said.

Ash set down his bowl after finishing his stew. "Okay I think I'm good for tonight, thanks Dawn."

"My appreciation." Jeremy chimed.

Dawn smiled sweetly. "You guys are very welcome."

Dawn took the pot off the fire and put some more firewood on, soon enough everyone began to gather around the campfire.

Night had fallen yet our heroes were still very much awake, Pikachu slept peacefully in Ash's sleeping bag while they kept warm by the fire.

Jeremy looked up at the night sky, there were no clouds whatsoever so that the moonlight dimly lit up the forest in a deep blue. He smiled and grabbed his acoustic guitar, a Martin D-28 from 1979 to be exact. To the untrained eye the guitar looks to be only 5 or so years old but further examination shows it's true age.

He did a quick check to see if his guitar was in tune, and began to play, just noodling around at first before going into something very reminiscent or Bron-Yr-Aur by Led Zeppelin.

As he played Ash and Dawn watched him play, captivated by his precision and stoic focus, but Dawn's attention was drawn to someone else. Ash was layed back on a log watching the entertainer not noticing Dawn scooting ever closer to him until, she had wrapped herself around his body.

"You know Ash," She smiled at him, "this time I kinda appreciate his noise."

Jeremy continued as if they weren't even there.

"Me too," Ash replied, but he could see from her beautiful blue eyes that she wanted something.

Dawn continued to look up at him while she rested her head on his shoulder.

Dawn suddenly felt herself moving and resting on top of Ash like the afternoon before. "I don't remember moving up here..."

"You didn't," Ash said, "it was me."

Dawn was very suprised, he had never done anything like that before, her cheeks began to redden and so did Ash's.

"We never got to finish up our moment early today." Ash murmured.

Dawn giggled silently and leaned in, both their eyes closed. Jeremy continued to play his music but in the minds of Ash and Dawn they couldn't hear him, they couldn't hear anything but their breath, and voices.

"Ash?" Dawn whispered, their lips just barely an inch apart.

"Yes?"

"I never got to say this but... I love you Ash."

Ash paused, he could feel his heart suddenly leap in his chest.

"You know what Dawn... I...I love you too."

That sealed it, Dawn just lurched forward, locking lips with Ash Ketchum and and explosion of ecstasy went straight through both lovers as they kissed for the first time.

Not in their wildest dreams when both started their journeys that they would find true love along the way. Ash just figured it would be just like the last 2 female companions but he was completely blown away when Dawn came into the picture, there was something about her additude, her voice, her looks he didn't know but he could resist her. all these thoughts and feelings just bounced around inside his skull like a rubber ball.

Their "love trip" seemed to last hours when it really only lasted a minute and a half when the two broke their bond to catch their breath just as Jeremy finished playing the piece.

Jeremy looked up after he could no longer hear the guitar sustaining and saw the two laying on top of eachother.

Dawn jumped a little remembering that Jeremy was still there. "I-I'm so sorry." She squeaked thinking he would be mad at them.

But he was smiling. "Don't feel bad," He said, "I can tell you two enjoyed yourself more with eachother then listening to me."

The two looked back at eachother and smiled back.

"You kids look like you were made for eachother, I could tell right from when I met you two," Jeremy went on, strumming his guitar a couple times, "save every moment you have together, that's all I have to say."

Ash and Dawn beamed gleefully, cuddling a little bit more.

"It's getting pretty late you two," Jeremy mentioned, "you should get some rest."

The two reluctantly let go of eachother, Ash walked to his sleeping bag and Dawn to her tent.

But Dawn couldn't go to sleep, it had been an hour since she got ready for bed but she just couldn't get to sleep, usually she'd be asleep within a couple of minutes. So she got up out of her bag and tent and tried to wake Ash but to no avail.

"Well I guess one night outside the tent couldn't hurt..."

So she dragged her sleeping bag out of the tent and lay it next to Ash and slipped inside. It was colder outside of the tent but she didn't care, as long as Ash was there, she felt fine and safe and fell asleep.  



	3. Chapter 3

The morning came, the sun crept over the horizon reflecting off the still water of the lake that was distorted by a thin layer of fog. it was roughly 6:00 and about 45 degrees outside, all were still asleep, Pikachu had left Ash's bag and had curled up in a ball. Jeremy lay slumped down in his bag surrounded by his equipment, and Ash and Dawn lay next to eachother just as they were last night.

Dawn awoke but lay still, knowing that it was very early she closed her eyes and tried to fall back asleep. Her efforts were futile, so she just lay there, looking at the little frost crystals on the grass. She didn't want to get up as she could see her breath condensing in the cold air. "I guess it's just one of those mornings..." she thought.

She lay there for about 2 minutes when she felt Ash stir, he too had woken up very early and wasn't too happy. "Ugh, great..."  
he grunted, and rolled over to his side and saw a pair of cobalt blue eyes staring at him. Ash jumped slightly before realizing they were Dawns. "Oh... hey Dawn, good morning." He said, sleepily.

"Good morning to you too..." She yawned, "you up early too?"

"Yeah, what are you doing out here?" Ash asked, "You usually sleep in that tent of yours"

"I couldn't sleep," she responded, "I just didn't feel comfortable by myself anymore after our little moment, so I came out here."

"I see."

Dawn pulled out her right arm from her sleeping bag and drooped it over Ash's side. "I don't think I need the tent anymore,  
well maybe for changing and some... other things."

"Other things?" Ash started, before Dawn put her finger on his lips.

"Don't you worry your pretty little head about anything." She giggled.

Ash also fished an arm out of his bag and wrapped it around Dawn's waist and tugged her a little closer.

Dawns cheeks began to turn crimson and she smiled and moved her arm over Ash's upper back.

Ash looked down at the girl he dearly cared for, running a finger through her long, silky smooth hair, which was surprisingly affected very little by the water vapor in the air.

Dawn giggled again and rested her head into Ash's chest and fell back asleep within a couple of minutes.

She awoke at 9:00 still buried in Ash's chest, the sun was higher in the sky now, most of the frost in the sky had melted and the fog had gone away. Everyone was still asleep, and Dawn was still very comfortable where she was but was now wide awake.

"I could get used to this." She thought.

Very shortly after, the gang began to wake up, Jeremy woke and stood up and flexed and stretched.  
Still sleepy he looked over at the two, thinking that they were both asleep he went for a short walk to wake himself up.

He enjoyed the fall and wintertime unlike most folks his age, he finds the cooler temperatures to be refreshing. "Man, what a beautiful morning." He said to himself, "can't wait to get back on the road. Hopefully those two will be awake when I get back."

Eventually, Ash awoke once again, but remained still as Dawn was still in his arms.

"Good morning again." He whispered. Dawn pulled her face out of his chest and looked up at him.

"Good morning." Dawn repeated.

"Hows my little angel feeling?"

"Oh Ash..." She giggled, playfully, "I'm feeling just fine."

"Glad to hear that." Ash said, feeling it was time to get up, he tried to stand but Dawn pulled him back.

"Can we cuddle some more? Just for another minute?" She asked sheepishly, giving some puppy dog eyes.

Ash couldn't refuse that face even if he tried to. "Oh alright."

Dawn beamed and ran her fingers through his messy hair, she continued to do so for the entire minute without realizing it.

Ash sat up, Dawn still in his arms. "Okay, time to get up." Ash announced.

"Awwww..." Dawn groaned non seriously, she then watched as Ash got up and went to get his stuff ready to begin traveling once again. She watched the yellow mouse wake from his sleep then proceeded to roll up her sleeping bag, then returned to her tent to touch up her hair and get dressed.

Jeremy returned to the camp site a few minutes later.

"Morning." Ash said to him.

Jeremy didn't really answer, unless you count a grunt that vaguely sounds like "Good morning" as an answer.  
Jeremy cleared his throat and answered properly. "Good morning, where's Dawn at?"

"She's in her tent, getting ready," He said, motioning in the direction of her tent, "Come on Dawn!"

"Don't rush me!" She shouted, "I'm not even dressed yet!"

Ash sighed in frustration, obviously he was as always, very eager to get going and resulted in his impatience.

"Relax dude," Jeremy said, "you got to cut her some slack she's a girl, they care about that stuff more then we do. Secondly long hair requires more grooming." He then took out a brush of his own and did some of his grooming quickly, not to help prove his point but had reminded himself to do that.

Ash could only nod, knowing that he was the only one in his group that didn't have long hair.

Shortly after Dawn emerged from her tent, her hair now brushed to perfection, and dressed in her usual attire.

"Okay," Dawn sighed, more chipper then mad from Ash's hurrying, "I'm almost ready."

Ash fell to the ground as if he and the ground became magnetized different polarities. "Almost?" He spluttered, "What more needs to be done?"

"Taking down my tent?"

Ash fell back down to the ground out of stupidity, but quickly got up to help her take down her tent.

Jeremy then let Machop out to help carry his 'luggage' around for the trip ahead, as he had allot of heavy things to carry already.

The tent came down in about 20 minutes due to a lack of coordination but it came down with no damage done to the canvas.

"Okay let's roll!" Ash said.

The trio once again started their way down the long trail going to Twinleaf town, with their new friend Jeremy in tow, our heroes now set themselves up for future adventures ahead. 


End file.
